Knowing him, I’m sure he sent you a drawing of Sahar Airport in a blue colored aerogramme. Drawn to scale in blue ink.
You’d tell her, “.. must hold on to mummy’s mundhani and not let go.. ok?.. Ever!” She’d bob her head vigorously, wide eyed with excitement. She was bustling about the house on the last few days. Running upstairs and downstairs while you were trying to get the packing done. She would tell Thatha that she was going to a new city where the roads were lined with Gems and all cars were Toyotas. And she would bring back one for each relative who came to see you off.
She held onto your pallu tightly throughout the trip. At the noisy airport where you couldn’t find a trolley for the bags, when you were checking in, at the security check when she saw the metal detector for the first time. All the way till baggage claim at Seeb International when she saw her father waiting outside. She ran to him with a shriek. Customs officials and Immigration counters be damned.
Today, she insists you carry a cellphone and calls three times before you board the flight. “Have you taken your tickets? Keep the boarding pass safe okay? Shall I get you some coffee? A sandwich?”. She asks you to message as soon as you land in Bombay, and again when you get home. “Don’t carry the bags okay Ma, just ask someone standing nearby to get it off the conveyer belt for you..”
She sounds exactly like her father, you think to yourself..
For my mom, For an awesome weekend and For 22 years
——————
*Mundhani(aka Pallu) : the part of the saree draped over the shoulder
*Thatha : grandfather
hey brainee… ur narrating style is really dhool* ma…
dhool* – superb, excellent..
aama… 3.40 AM kku what r u doing madam? (other than blog)
Whoa… Beautiful…
very nice, thanks for writing such moving posts.
idhe maadhiri oru post naa ezhudhinaa evanaavadhu seenduvaanaa… porandhaalum aambaLayaa porakka koodaadhu..
nice one.
hey, nice one.
Nice post. Touchy.
But then when I first saw “pallu” while skimming the post, that OKA’s teacher crossed my mind…
So has your intern started?
Hey, good one suze, and i was wondering where you went off on that weekend!
sagaro, leaving on wednesday. Finals start tomorrow
hey Sujatha.. randomly stumbled upon yr blog. I’m just leaving a comment here coz I was amused to see u have the same birthdate as I
oh crap…nuff with the sentiments…its getting saccharine and trite.
Knowing him, I’m sure he sent you a drawing of Sahar Airport in a blue colored aerogramme. Drawn to scale in blue ink.
Oh my god..lol..couldnt help laughing…i have got a layout of both chennai and seeb airport and a list of things that i should and should not do at the airport.Parents,an universal phenomenon!!
The article was very nice,very senti.Keep posting such stuff.
you won’t believe it..but thats wxactly my life as well…my mom 26..me 2…going abroad for the first time where my dad was waiting for us…except the only difference was that as soon as i landed at Charles De gaulle i didn’t recognize dad as i hadn’t seen him for nearly 6 months ….
another diff being i am 19 now..not 22…
enjoyed ur post …seemed to mirror what had happened in my life 17 years ago…
Hey Suze… beautiful post!! the story, the narration, the feelings… all knit superbly together.